Acting Like Ninja
by Ashen Author
Summary: Naurto starts using his brain, calls bull on the Raikage, and...MAKES A DEAL WITH DANZO! Then Sasuke gets involved and surrenders, and suddenly the world stops making sense. Sasuke is polite and deferential to the Raikage and Danzo-without sparking a war? Not Crack or Slash. A tale of gambit pile-ups beginning after Pein's attack. Only a 3shot: I've written myself into a corner.
1. Thinking, for once

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, and especially not the dialogue I lifted for the kage summit. Also, there's an homage to the story _Uprooted_, which i don't own either. Cookies to whoever finds it first!  
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"So tell us more about Sasuke Uchiha," said the Kumo-nin standing on the water. Naruto's knee-jerk reaction would have been violent, but he pulled himself together and remembered several lessons from Jiraiya.

"Before that," he said, making a gesture to restrain Sai and Sakura' reactions, "tell me what two foreigners are doing in the village right after it's been hit hard by the Akatsuki?" He raised an eyebrow and took a step forward. "You haven't attacked anyone _yet_, but walking around with a sword isn't exactly friendly. Shouldn't you guys have a diplomatic escort? And who are you anyway?"

"I'm Omoi, she's Karui," said the male of the two. They started walking towards the river-shore, relaxing into non-threatening stances. "We're here with two missions. The first is to deliver to the Hokage a message from the Raikage, calling a Gokage Summit, which our teammate is doing. The second is to obtain information on Uchiha Sasuke to give to our hunter-nin pursuing him."

"What!" yelped Sakura. "Sasuke's a Leaf ninja! What's he done to Kumo?"

"What's he done?" snarled Karui. "What's he done!? He only joined the terrorist organization Akatsuki, broke into our village, and kidnapped our sensei that's what he's done!"

"He would never!" Sakura snapped, but there was a hint of uncertainty. He _had_ left the village for Orochimaru, he _had_ attacked her and Naruto, and he _had_ been acting all-around unstable. She had read some psychology books under Tsunade's tutelage—to learn about healing the mind, as well as the body—and Sasuke had matched up with some of the conditions she'd studied. Still…"Sasuke—"

"Hold up," Naruto said quietly, and Sakura froze. There was a hint of danger on the edge of his voice that she only barely caught. _Please don't turn this into a diplomatic incident, that's the last thing Konoha needs right now._

"Sasuke," Naruto continued gently, "was my team mate, and I was the only person he ever went all out against in a fight, except for the few times he was so badly outclassed it didn't matter. I probably know his fighting style better than anyone else alive, except for the people he's traveling with right now. If Sasuke really did all that, then I'll tell you everything you need to know, from how he liked to hide his camps to how he'll try to retreat when outmatched." Naruto was smiling still, and had the full attention of everyone in the clearing. Sakura and Sai were both frozen in shock at Naruto's possible about-face on Sasuke's safety. Then, barely visible, he was suddenly standing between the Kumo-nin, his arms looped around their shoulders companionably in a way that reminded Sakura of how Sasuke had approached him at Orochimaru's base. "But first you have to _prove that Sasuke did all that_."

"The hell!" yelled Karui, as she and her teammate reflexively flickered out of his reach. Naruto didn't pursue, he just gave them a moment to catch their breath and re-center themselves. Sakura couldn't see his eyes, but would have been surprised to see that they weren't red and slitted.

"So. Your evidence?" he prompted.

"Now you see here—" Karui started, but Omoi cut her off.

"Wait, Karui. He has a point. And if he really is Uchiha's former teammate, he'll probably have better information than any we'll find in the records. Let's just go with it." He turned to face Naruto. "First off, a team of our ninja were rendered unconscious, and one of them reported being interrogated for information on our sensei's location. He described Sasuke, and stated that the man he described was referred to as Sasuke, and possessed the sharingan. Then, when he engaged our sensei, a team of patrolling ninja saw the conflict and sent an alert to the village. They were too far away and too low-level to interfere, but they observed use of the Amaterasu technique, a sharingan only ninjutsu, confirming that the enemy was an Uchiha. With the death of Uchiha Itachi, that leaves Sasuke as the only Uchiha. Thus, we have witnesses who saw him, and saw techniques unique to him. Is that enough evidence?"

Naruto was quiet for a long moment. Then he cocked his head to one side, snorted, and smirked. "So basically, your evidence amounts to a memory from a man who was, by his own admission, mind-fucked by a high-level genjutsu, and the use of a technique that I know from personal experience can be sealed into a scroll, and re-released at a later date by someone who isn't an Uchiha. In fact, Jiraiya-sensei had me practice my fire-sealing on an Amaterasu he sealed and re-released that was cast by Uchiha Itachi, more than a year before. Not only that, but Akatsuki has at least one member—this masked freak named Tobi—with an implanted sharingan, and may well have transplanted Itachi's eyes into another member after his death. Assuming he's really dead; we never found the body after all. Now, this evidence is presented from a village that historically has a habit of double-dealing, like the Hyuga incident a decade ago, and it _just happens_ to be delivered to the village just after an Akatsuki attack, at a time when we don't have the active man-power to watch you and make certain that Sasuke is the _only_ ninja you take information about, instead of any number of other ninja, myself included. That's not nearly enough. I'm taking you into custody."

"Hey," yelled Karui, as she and Omoi put their swords in a ready position. "That's not it at all! This is our sensei we're talking about! We need to save him, or at least bring his killer to justice!"

"I'm not saying you guys are bad," Naruto said consolingly, "but are you certain that no one sent a second team after you to do some black ops? Or that your third teammate is actually doing what he said he would? And have I said anything that isn't true?"

"She, actually," Omoi said grudgingly. "And Samui is just as worried about Bee sensei as us, but I can't say you don't have a point. This does look pretty suspicious."

"You can't seriously think of giving up!" Karui yelled, whirling on him.

"This Bee-sensei guy, he was a jinchuriki, right?" Naruto asked. That made them pause for a second. "I mean, Akatsuki has been specifically targeting jinchuriki for the past three years, so it would make sense that he was. How many tails?"

"It's not like it's a big secret, or secret at all, really," Omoi conceded, knocked off balance. "Yeah, he was the Hachibi jinchuriki." Sakura only boggled at how Naruto was handling the situation and giving the Kumo-nin emotional whiplash. Sai still hadn't dropped his guard, but was confused.

"I really sympathize, believe it. The jinchuriki we have, with the Kyubi, has had a lot of problems with Akatsuki, too. This big attack, even. The Akatsuki boss showed up _in person_ with his second-in-command as back-up to kidnap the poor guy. Luckily, he actually killed the leader, and convinced his assistant to retreat, but he was one tail away from going completely berserk. But the way I see it, it's entirely possible that your sensei was sold out to the Akatsuki by your village, same as the Rokubi and Shichibi were."

"That's ridiculous," Omoi scoffed. "Bee-sensei is Raikage-sama's little brother. A-sama would sooner cut his own throat than harm sensei."

"Jinchuriki are always related to the kage," Naruto countered, "it inspires loyalty in _the weapon_. Kazekage Gaara was the son of his village's Yondaime Kazekage, and so was Mizukage Yagura, and the Yonbi was the Tsuchikage's nephew. That doesn't stop the prejudice. I mean, our jinchuriki was the biological son of the Yondaime," Sakura and Sai both reacted, though only Sakura's spasm was visible, "and the adopted grandson of the Sandaime, and that didn't stop people from spreading lies and rumors, kicking him out of various shops, and trying to quietly sabotage his education in the Academy. Can you honestly say that your Raikage's councilors are all as close to your sensei as you are? That there aren't some people who cross the street to avoid him? That the ninja who watched his battle didn't interfere because they _wanted_ Akatsuki to take your sensei? It wouldn't take more than four or five people to sell him out to the Akatsuki and mislead your Raikage."

Karui had blanched whiter and whiter as Naruto had been talking. Omoi's hands were visibly shaking. If they remembered they had even been thinking of fighting a few minutes ago they certain didn't act like it. Perhaps the intent Naruto had been leaking had an effect, but his words were persuasive on their own.

"Another thing, guys. Omoi and Karui, you said, right? Sasuke has, to date, killed Orochimaru, Deidara, and his brother Itachi. Two actual Akatsuki members and one sort-of member. Which do you think is more likely, in light of that? The Akatsuki welcomes him into its ranks and gives him the high-priority mission of capturing one of the last and most powerful jinchuriki? Or that they'd try to kill him in revenge like you want to, possibly by siccing a village's hunter-nin on him for hurting the kage's brother?" He paused, looking at his audience's faces. "Lastly, guys, have I said anything wrong? Anything? One thing? No? You guys see where I'm coming from with the whole taking you into custody thing?"

"Oh god. Oh god, oh god, ohgodohgod!" Karui had actually collapsed to the ground, and Omoi's sword had slipped from his fingers.

"W-we'll come q-quietly," Omoi said. Naruto smiled.  
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"Uzumaki Naruto," said Danzo stonily. "I hear you brought two diplomatic envoys from Kumogakure into custody. Are you _trying_ to cause a diplomatic incident when the village is the weakest it's been in decades?"

Naruto looked around the room, just a tent, really, and saw it was empty except for himself, Danzo, and Danzo's two Root guards. "Where's Granny Tsunade?" he asked, sounding unimpressed.

"The princess fell into a coma after the events of the attack. I was appointed acting hokage by the diamyo. That means that I have all the authority she did, including the authority to have your rank stripped, or throw you in prison for almost causing a diplomatic incident when we are at our weakest."

"Counter-offer," Naruto interrupted. "You take the hit off Sasuke's head, and I help you completely humiliate the Leaf's biggest political rival at the Gokage Summit. Refuse, by the way, and I have half a dozen shadow clones ready to spread the information I got out of the Akatsuki boss before he died about how he first turned against the Leaf when a one-eyed ninja lead a group of ANBU pretenders to reinforce Hanzo the Salamander when he double-crossed them at a peace treaty negotiation." Danzo raised an eyebrow. "Red-hair, summoned a giant statue that spit a soul-stealing spirit after his best friend died. Got his legs blown up by an explosive trap. Ring a bell?" Danzo didn't react, and was going to respond, but Naruto cut him off. "I know it's you, and you know it's you, and that's what matters. Well, no, what really matters is what the people of the village will believe. Corrupt, shady old guy, versus the hero who saved the village. Do you really want to pick that fight?"

There was a long pause. Then, wonder of wonders, horror of horrors, Danzo Shimura, the shinobi of darkness, actually began laughing. Long and hard, and deep from the stomach. Finally, he stopped, and wiped his eye with his one hand.

"I wish Sarutobi had given you to me in the beginning," he said. "You would have been great in Root." Naruto raised an eyebrow. _Now that I've figured out how weaponize my Therapy Jutsu like Kiba joked about, sure. Huh. I wonder if i can actually get it listed as Therapy Jutsu, on a scroll or something._

"You wanted _me_ among your traumatized, emotionally-stunted, fanatical devotees? Really? Considering what happens every time I get close to someone who's wrong the head, I have to wonder what you're smoking, and can I have some? Seriously, are you sure you aren't going senile like Jiji was?" That got another reaction from Danzo, but not an angry one.

"I was under the impression that you all but worshipped the ground Sarutobi walked on?" he said, a little shell-shocked.

"I love the old man forever, and I will always respect him. But he retired for a reason, and he shouldn't have started up again after my father died."

"Jiraiya told you of that, then?"

"No, which makes him another family figure I hold shit against, even if I love him like he was my father, instead of my godfather. Remember when I went eight-tails fighting Pain? Then I went right back to normal? My father put a safe-guard in the seal, designed to fix it if it ever came really close to breaking. I had a bit of him pop up in my head, and chatted for a bit before he fixed everything."

"Interesting safeguard," Danzo muttered. "Will it work twice?" _The applications of a jinchuriki who could go berserk at will, and then harmlessly revert...I may not need my arm after all, if I can win his loyalty._

"Maybe. Probably not. Though, he didn't say how my mother was involved, so she might be there. I'm not going to rip the seal off to check, though. Hey, do you know anything about that? My mom?"

"Yes, and I will tell you some later time. The story will only add more hate to Kumo, though. They didn't kill her, but they tried to kidnap her just as they did with the Hyuga heiress. For now, we were discussing Kumogakure and the missing Uchiha."

"Yeah, yeah. I help you make the Raikage look like an idiot, and you take the hit off Sasuke's head, since aside from leaving, he's killed Orochimaru, Deidara, and Itachi, and gutted Oto. I think that should buy him a pardon, since _you_ haven't been able to do any of that, even with your secret group of super-ninja. If we can talk sense into Sasuke and bring him back, you can even say he was a deep cover agent. Granny'll go for it if I ask."

"That sounds generally acceptable, pending the Godaime's agreement, should she awaken soon. If, however, he does commit any crimes against the village, such attacking the village or political figures—like myself, the daimyo, or Tsunade—he gets a price put back on his head. We could never cover that over." _If Itachi couldn't keep quiet, I have an excuse to kill him, and if he could he has no more reasons to be disloyal._

"Sounds good," Naruto said, and one of Danzo's guards disappeared with a hand gesture, to spread the word around.

"Now," Danzo said, leaning forward, "let's discuss the specifics of your plan." Behind his bandages, Shisui Uchiha's implanted eye began to spin as he called on the Koto-amatsukami.  
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"Naruto, what's going on?" Sakura asked, catching up to him as he was moving towards the gate with his pack. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yup," he responded with a grin as she matched his pace. "Have you heard about Granny?"

"She's in a coma. Shizune's working on her, but no change yet. She burned a huge amount of chakra, and it's mostly luck that she's not worse off. She might get better, but it might not be anytime soon. There's an acting Hokage in the meanwhile, though. This guy named—"

"Danzo Shimura," Naruto finished. "Remember how those Kumo guys mentioned the Raikage calling a Gokage Summit? Well, I'm going along as a guard for the old guy. I convinced him to take the hit off Sasuke's head, though."

"That's great," Sakura said softly, but something was still bothering her. "Naruto, those things you said to them about our jinchuriki. About you. Were they true?"

"Which things?" he asked with a grin. "I said a lot of things."

"Son of the Yondaime?" she asked under her breath.

"I only just learned, and I don't want to flaunt it. I want to be great on my own name, you know. So I think I'll keep using Uzumaki."

"Wow," Sakura said, her world spinning wildly. "And about how you were treated? I know people said bad things, but the discrimination, the sabotage, and assassination attempts?"

"There weren't any assassination attempts. No beatings, either, though there was yelling and swearing. But if Jiji would make a law that people who _said_ the wrong thing about me would be executed—spreading the whole Kyubi thing to anyone who doesn't know—what do you think he'd do to anyone who actually tried to hurt me?" Sakura just grimaced, thinking about it. Nice the Sandaime had been, but he served as a ninja, jonin, and kage longer than many other people lived. He fought a sannin and two other kage to a standstill, and he lead Konoha through two wars. He wasn't soft. "The rest were true, though. He could keep me safe, but he couldn't make people like me, or even just be polite to me." Sakura thought about what she knew he'd gone through, and what else that she probably didn't know about.

"Naruto? When did you find out why people were treating you like that? About the Kyubi, instead of just thinking it was just you?"

"Mizuki-teme tricked me into stealing a valuable scroll as a 'special exam' after my third failure. I thought a field test made sense, since I wasn't good with books, and I trusted him because he and Iruka-sensei were the only ones who were nice to me. He told me the truth to rattle me when Iruka showed up, and tried to kill the both of us. But hey, I got the Shadow Clone Jutsu out of it."

"That long," Sakura mused. "Naruto, how did you not end up a monster like Gaara? Like he used to be? I've read psychology books for Lady Tsunade's lessons, and I know what that treatment does to people. I honestly wouldn't blame you, knowing all this now." He stopped, having reached the gate where Danzo would show up. He gave the question the thought it deserved.

"I honestly thought about it a few times, including just now, when I found out about my parents. I'd like to say I've forgiven everyone, but I haven't. I suppose that's why I feel so strongly connected to Sasuke: I almost went down the same road. It's three things, really. One, I don't want to prove everyone right. It would serve them right, but…well, you get it. Two, Doing that would hurt other people who never hurt me, just because they'd be nearby. Then I'd be as bad as the people who hurt me." He trailed off, and stared up into the sky.

"Three? Is it your Hokage dream?" Sakura prompted. "You don't have to tell me if—"

"No, I think I can trust you. I'm just not sure you want to know." He looked her in the eye. "Three: living well is the best revenge. Believe it." He smiled, and her eyes flicked to his teeth, and she shivered. "See," he said lightly. "Now you're going to have problems slee—"

Sakura kissed him. No tongue, just lips, but it wasn't gentle. She kissed him hard, and for a few precious seconds she clung to him like he was a tree growing over the edge of cliff, and she was on the verge of falling. And maybe she was. Then she stepped back and drew in a breath, and for a moment they just stood there, breathing.

"Naruto. I'm not going to say I love you, because I really, _really_ don't know, and you wouldn't deserve it if I ended up lying to you. But I do know this. If you ever decide to follow Sasuke's path, I'm following you, come hell, high water, or whatever other hair-raising horrors you encounter." At the last one she poked him in the stomach and grinned. He laughed, blushing and unsure if he was dreaming. She turned and walked away, but stopped after only a few steps and turned back. "Naruto, how much of this can I tell our friends? Because I think they'd understand." He breathed, and thought.

"As much as you want them to know. I trust you." She smiled, not brilliantly, or softly, but wryly, like she saw irony in the situation. She nodded and continued walking away. She didn't look back. She didn't need to.  
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"You were distracted," Danzo commented as they cleaned up the bodies of the Hanya clan ninja that had attacked them.

"Only on the journey," Naruto defended himself. "I perked up when the fight happened. Or did you forget that it was my disguised shadow clones that caught them first?"

"A valid point," Danzo conceded, mildly grateful that he had not needed to display his hidden eye or arm, to the dangerous boy. Koto-amatsukami would not persuade him to accept them as he had already used it today, and he didn't know how the jinchuriki would react without it to balance the scales in his favor. "And I must confess, I am surprised you are this calm in the face of death."

"The pervert _did_ take me bandit hunting a few times," Naruto responded. "I don't like it, but that doesn't mean I won't kill, if it comes down to it."

"Like should be immaterial," Danzo said, continuing the debating habit they had fallen into once or twice already. "To a ninja, the mission and the village are of the only importance. Happiness, anger, fear, and disgust: these are all words that mean nothing, and the word failure means everything."

"I bet love falls into the useless category, too," Naruto commented.

"That is correct. It causes unnecessary distraction, and loss of control."

"That belief is why you didn't become the sandaime," Naruto responded, aiming for a low blow. "After all, if a ninja doesn't love his village, then why does he serve it? If the hokage doesn't love the village and its people, then why would he do what is best for the village instead of best for himself, like Orochimaru?"

Danzo didn't deign to answer, he simply made the gesture to continue moving. Once they were among the trees he broached a different subject. "Listen closely. I'm going to instruct you on the protocol for a diplomatic affair of this magnitude."  
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The planning begins! I warn you that this will only be three or four chapters because I've pretty much written myself into a corner. That being said, if I happen to inspire anyone, feel free to steal the idea, or even copy some of text. All I ask is that you leave me review saying so, and mention me in your story's AN.


	2. Reading Raikage the Riot ACT

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, or else I'd be making it a lot less trite. I especially don't own the dialogue I lifted for the beginning of the Summit.  
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"Karin, when will the next group arrive? You said they'd be here five minutes ago," Sasuke said as his team hunched on the icy cliff from which they observed the incoming ninja.

"Any second now," Karin replied, shivering. "One of them has a massive chakra and it threw off my estimate. And…now." A trio of figures passed into view.

"Which one is Danzo?" Sasuke asked Zetsu, activating his sharingan to memorize the man's appearance. Then he got a better look and his eyes widened. _Is that…Naruto? What is he doing here? Someone like Danzo should be against everything the dobe stands for!_

"The old man in the middle," Zetsu said.

"So are we just going to wait for the meeting to finish and ambush them going home?" Suigetsu asked, annoyed. "'Cause if so, then can we please make camp and get warm? Otherwise, can we just kill them now?"

"Idiot," Karin scoffed dismissively. "If we ambush them now the samurai will get suspicious when he doesn't arrive and send battalions of reinforcements." Sasuke ignored them, thinking wildly. He turned back to Zetsu.

"Zetsu, is it possible for you to spy on the meeting and relay the information back to us?" he asked. The white half-man thing chuckled.

"I was planning to have a clone sneak in anyways. This is too important for Akatsuki to not know what is going on."

"Good," Sasuke said. Then he locked eyes with Zetsu, sharingan spinning.  
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Gaara smiled when he saw Naruto take up a guard position behind the old man in the Hokage's seat, though Tsunade's absence was curious. The blond shot him a quick nod in exchange, but remained professional, slightly surprising Gaara. Then he felt guilty about his surprise, for thinking so little of his friend. The old samurai at the front of the room spoke up.

"Place your hats on the table. You are here today because the Raikage has called this meeting. My name is Mifune. I will be your moderator. The meeting will now begin." There was a moment of silence as everyone waited for the first move. Gaara decided to make it.

"I'll go first, listen up," he said bluntly. The Tsuchikage, a withered old man who still carried an air of power, burst out chuckling.

"The make-up of the five kages sure has changed. You must be something special to be made Kazekage at your age. Your father must have taught you right," Gaara didn't react to what the old man may or may not have intended as an insult, "but apparently he forgot to instill in you any manners." Gaara bottled away his annoyance for future use.

"I guess…" the young redhead said drily. "That's why I'm here as Kazekage."

"Hahahaha! Cheeky brat!" the Tsuchikage chortled.

"Tsuchikage, please stop interrupting," intervened the Mizukage, a redheaded kunoichi a few years before middle age. "Kazekage, please continue."

"…I'm a former host," Gaara continued. "Akatsuki captured me and nearly killed me extracting the Ichibi. That's why I believe Akatsuki is extremely dangerous. I requested aid from the other kages many times, but with the exception of the Godaime Hokage, I was ignored every time. Though at this point, with so many jinchuriki captured, it's too late for aid."

"Humph," the Tsuchikage grumbled. "If a country has had its jinchuriki captured, it has no business giving other countries orders. It's an embarrassment! You should have tried to recover it in secret. Once it's stolen, you can't expect other countries to help you."

"Appearance and honor are old-fashioned thinking that will get our people killed and cause our villages to fail. Or do you deny that you lost both of your jinchuriki as well?" Gaara countered coldly. Naruto gave a hidden grin at his friend's almost-a-rant.

"Just because the biju have been stolen we are still not in immediate danger," the Mizukage said. "It takes time and skill for a jinchuriki to even begin controlling a biju."

"The container must grow with the biju in order to adapt," the Tsuchikage agreed roughly. "Even then…control can be very difficult. Correct, Kazekage?" Gaara again did not react to the jibe.

"In any event," Danzo interjected, speaking for the first time, "the only ones who can truly be said to have **controlled** a biju are Senju Hashirama and Uchiha Madara—and perhaps former Mizukage Yagura and the Raikage's brother, Kira Hachi. But…" The mention of Killer Bee had apparently been the last straw for the Raikage, and the bodyguards jerked into action when he smashed apart the table with one hand.

"Quit your yapping!" he demanded. The room froze. None of the other kages had reacted, but the Kumo guards were standing protectively in front of their leader, while the other guards were arrayed threateningly in front of them. Naruto, too, was standing in front of Danzo, and had only pulled out a kunai, but he kept his hands in the Shadow Clone seal.

"We are here to talk," Mifune said angrily. "Please refrain from such acts of rudeness." When it became clear that the Raikage was not going to attack, the guards stood down and returned to their posts in accordance with their leaders' orders. The Raikage began again.

"Konoha! Suna! Iwa! Kiri! Akatsuki is made up missing-nin from your villages! And that's not all! I know that there are those among you, including former kages, who have used Akatsuki to their own ends." It appeared the Raikage was only beginning his rant, but Danzo saw his chance and took it.

"And isn't that suspicious?" Danzo said, causing everyone to turn to the Hokage's chair. "One must wonder why Akatsuki has no operatives from Kumo, as one would think they would want the inside information. It is not as though your village has not produced high-level missing-nin. Akira Hoshigawa would certainly qualify, and 'Thunder-fist' Kiimoto even more so. Yet rather than recruit Kiimoto, Akatsuki's own Kakuzu killed him four months ago and collected the bounty. Coincidence?"

"What are you saying?" the Raikage asked, deadly quiet. Danzo smirked.

"Earlier this week you sent a team of shinobi to our village to request information on Uchiha Sasuke, who you claimed was responsible for the kidnapping of your brother. One of my suborinates found some discrepancies in their story and took them into custody."

"You attacked and arrested my diplomatic team?" the Raikage growled. The room tensed.

"No," Danzo replied. "The ninja in question peacefully convinced your team to remand themselves into custody using nothing but words, and when we return them to you they will testify as much themselves. In fact, I brought him along both because of his observations on Akatsuki and the Uchiha, and because he appears to be last free jinchuriki, and I would like leave to have him address the council on the subject."

"Naruto Uzumaki is known to me, and I would like to hear his message," Gaara announced.

"This should prove interesting," the Mizukage agreed, and the others concurred one after the other, with the Raikage last of all. Danzo motioned, and Naruto jumped into the center of the room.

"So," he said, looking around, "anywhere in particular I should stand?"

"Beside me, so that they all may see you," Mifune suggested, and Naruto took up the place.

"What _discrepancies_ did you find with my team's orders?" the Raikage ground out.

"Several," Naruto said, "Ranging from the timing of their arrival to the idea that Sasuke joined Akatsuki, and while I don't have enough evidence to be certain, the possibilities are disturbing."

"The time of the team's arrival? Explain that first," the Mizukage suggested.

"Recently, our village was attacked by none of than the Akatsuki's apparent leader, Pein, and his partner. We fought them off, and I personally witnessed Pein's death, but many people were injured and a large portion of the village was destroyed."

"Apparent leader? Is there another?"

"Our sources suggest that Pein was merely a figure-head for another leader. I will happily go into detail once this matter is done," Danzo volunteered. "Also, Uzumaki is underplaying his own role in the fight. They focused their efforts almost solely on him, and he not only killed Pein almost single-handedly, but forced his partner to retreat. Were it not for his youth, he may be in this chair instead."

"Someday," Naruto said idly. "But, yeah, we were attacked by Akatsuki. Less than an hour after the attack ended, a team of Kumo-nins show up and ask to access some of our records, right at a time when we can't spare the resources to watch them, and when a little digging might find all sorts of other secrets. I thought it was suspicious, so I dug a little deeper when two of the three confronted me."

"Why confront you?" asked the Mizukage, again. Naruto took a deep breath. This would be a bit harder.

"Uchiha Sasuke and I were rivals in the Academy, and teammates as genin. I was a member a of the team that attempted to intercept him when he left, and I ended up engaging him one-on-one. I lost, but it was very, very close. I am the only person Sasuke has ever really gone all-out against, excluding the few times he fought a vastly superior opponent that slapped him down before he had time to reach his all-out. Furthermore, I also have information on his abilities since joining Orochimaru. I saw Orochimaru fight on three different occasions, and can extrapolate to what he might have taught Sasuke. Then I served on a team that infiltrated one of Orochimaru's bases, where we encountered Sasuke and engaged him, Kabuto, and the sannin himself before managing to retreat." There was a pause as this information was digested.

"If you have fought the Uchiha so often, then why do you wish to stymie our efforts in apprehending him?" the Raikage asked.

"That ties in to my issues with the claim that Sasuke is a member of Akatsuki. Could you repeat the evidence?" The lack of honorific or title may have been on purpose, or may just have been Naruto—Gaara couldn't be sure either way. The Raikage growled again.

"First off, a patrol team was rendered unconscious by four ninja wearing Akatsuki cloaks," he said darkly. "When they woke up one of them revealed that he had been interrogated for information via a sharingan genjutsu, and gave a description matching that of Uchiha Sasuke. Then there was the fight between him and my brother. Two of my ninja observed the fight, but could not intervene for fear of being caught in Bee's crossfire. They sent off a distress call and noted the events of the battle. Most tellingly, they identified the use of the amaterasu technique, which is unique solely to wielders of the mangekyo sharingan." The Raikage folded his arms, daring Naruto to disagree. He did.

"So, in order, first, your only actual sighting of Sasuke was by a man who admitted to having been mind-fucked by a genjutsu?"

"By a sharingan genjutsu," the Raikage re-clarified. "With the death of Uchiha Itachi, his brother Sasuke is the only one capable of such feats."

"Not quite," Naruto objected. "We never recovered Itachi's body, so even if he really is dead there is still the chance for Akatsuki to implant his eyes into other members' bodies. Moreover, Sasuke doesn't _have_ the mangekyo sharingan. In my fight with him during the retrieval mission he told me that he intended to kill me to awaken it, but when I was unconscious and at his mercy he refused to, as he decided he did not want to become his brother, and I doubt he has gained it since. When we fought at the snake-bastard's base, Sasuke used a genjutsu on me to interact with the Kyubi and suppress it, and the fox commented that he was skilled to do that without mangekyo, to which Sasuke replied that he didn't need it as a crutch." This was the first actual lie of his testimony, and Naruto was a bit nervous, but no one appeared to notice.

"Could he have gained it since? By killing his brother, perhaps," the Tsuchikage suggested.

"Mangekyo comes from killing someone close to you. I doubt Sasuke is close to his brother. And building off the whole implant thing, even when Itachi was alive we knew that there was another member with an implanted sharingan. He goes by Tobi, and he's got some freaky space-time jutsu."

"Alright," the Raikage conceded, very reluctantly. "It's _possible_ that Uchiha Sasuke may not have abducted my brother, but we have no other leads to work with. We should at least bring him in for questioning."

"Actually, I'm not done yet," Naruto said. "Just the idea that Sasuke would or _could _join Akatsuki is laughable to anyone who investigates." This got some raised eyebrows, and the Raikage scowled at the obvious dig, but reigned in his temper.

"You deny that Sasuke has the required skill, even though his killed Orochimaru, Deidara, and Itachi?" the Tsuchikage asked.

"I deny that he could join _because_ of those kills," Naruto replied. "Sasuke has killed two—three if you count the snake—members of Akatsuki. Do you think they'd invite him to join after a declaration of war like that? Or do you think that they'd try to kill him, either themselves or through proxy. You know, like, siccing a major villages hunter-nin on him?" A distance away, listening to what the hypnotized Zetsu was relaying from his clone, Sasuke's eyebrows furled.

"I can see that happening," Gaara agreed.

"Considering the circumstances, and the fact that Uchiha has killed two of Konoha's greatest criminals, I have even agreed to permit him to re-enter the village under heavy parole, provided he returns non-violently and of his own free will, without committing other crimes," Danzo added, causing people to shift in surprise. The gears in Sasuke's head began to turn as he thought about this, and a plan formed in his mind. He formed a surprisingly familiar hand seal with a smile. _This...this is better than I could have hoped. Danzo, your_ head_ will soon be mine._

"So it is possible that Uchiha is framed and I almost fell for Akatsuki's trap," the Raikage conceded, his anger finding a new outlet. "But I still take offense to the Hokage's implication that my village was working with Akatsuki."

"Uzumaki brought up some interesting points on that subject too," Danzo said, "and if there are no objections I feel he can voice them better than I." Everyone agreed after a few moments. Gaara smiled as he thought of the huge impression Naruto was making to such an important audience.

"Well first, there's the fact that you're only calling this meeting now," Naruto said. "The Kazekage and Hokage both repeatedly some form of alliance against the Akatsuki and were rebuffed by everyone, including Kumogakure. You had two jinchuriki, the Hachibi and the Nibi, but when the Nibi was stolen you did nothing."

"I had had teams searching night and day for Yugito," the Raikage objected.

"Yet somehow Hidan and Kakuzu—and I later killed Kakuzu—waltzed into Kumo, stole her, walked out, and managed to hide out for the _several days_ needed to extract the Nibi. Having fought them, I'd say they aren't stealthy enough to do that easily. Kakuzu was mostly a blowing stuff up kind of guy, and Hidan was a crazy killer. They might have been good, but not that good, I think. Moreover, I was on the team sent to aid Lord Kazekage against the Akatsuki. We managed to find him in spite of starting off in a different country and having to travel to Suna before pursuing his trail."

"Are you suggesting we _let_ them take Yugito?" The Raikage's anger was back at boiling, and directed at Naruto again.

"You personally? Maybe not. But when I helped rescue Lord Kazekage—from Akatsuki, I heard something. One of the members, that Deidara guy, boasted that Gaara was the third jinchuriki they'd taken, and that the other two times the village had handed them over without a fight. Can you really be sure that none of your advisors would have gone behind your back and sold out Yugito for the good of the village?"

"They would never!" was the vehement reply. "And even less so with Bee!"

"But you said some ninja saw the fight where Bee was taken. Even if they couldn't fight, which I find hard to believe, couldn't they have tracked the Akatsuki members to help find your brother? But the really suspicious thing is, well, you."

"Me! You had better explain that fast," the Raikage roared.

"Uzumaki, I find your testimony very relevant, but I ask that you be less provocative," Mifune said sharply as the other guards tensed. Naruto shrugged and turned to look at him, and Mifune realized that Naruto's eyes were red and slitted.

"Sorry," he said lazily, and everyone could feel his chakra becoming agitated, "but it's taking most of my control not to start a war by attacking him. You'll see why, once I've finished talking."

"Yes, I want to hear this," Gaara agreed, his sand rustling.

"Well like we already said, the Raikage was one of the ones who rebuffed our request for assistance against the Akatsuki. That's understandable. But then there's the whole Nibi thing I was just talking about. If he's as concerned as he says he is, then why didn't he call this meeting before he lost his brother? Moreover," Naruto continued, glad that he'd rehearsed this with Danzo, and that he hadn't been interrupted or attacked yet, "I want everyone to remember the circumstances of Bee's capture. When the Akatsuki attacked I been removed to Mount Myoboku to avoid the Akatsuki, and only returned when we were already taking heavy losses. Where was Killer Bee after Kumo lost Yugito to Akatsuki? Was he in the village under ANBU supervision, and a team ready to respond with the Raikage accompanying should Akatsuki make a move? No, he was in a distant, isolated area, with no one to act as support when he was attacked. By the time reinforcements arrived, not only was he beaten and gone, but the trail had gone cold! Is that a sign of care?"

"What are you suggesting!?" the Raikage roared furiously. Naruto looked him in the eye with his kyubi-influenced gaze, and sneered.

"Well, I'm saying that from what I see, you're either in league with the Akatsuki, 'cause of the missing-nin thing and what I just said," he wound up for the big finish and hoped he didn't mispronounce word the Danzo had told him to use, "or you're just so incompetent that you only got that kage hat because of patrimony." Unknown to anyone else—even Naruto—Danzo's sharingan began to spin behind his bandages as he again called upon Shisui Uchiha's signature genjutsu. The Raikage's rage exploded.

Something smashed into Naruto like one of Shukaku's air bullets, and he was slammed into the wall by the Raikage's fist. The action taken in the next instant would never be perfectly remembered by any of the participants, but it ended with a homicidal Gaara only refraining from crushing the Raikage for two reasons. One, he was worried he would hurt Naruto even worse while doing so. Two, someone had already beaten him to it. Darui himself was holding a sword against his own kage's throat.

"Get me a medic NOW!" Mifune yelled, holding his own sword at the ready.

"Darui! What are you doing?" the Raikage asked, seeing whose sword was at his throat.

"My duty!" Darui yelled. "There was no call for this! If he's wrong, then we can prove it, and we might find some traitors in our ranks, and if he's right then you're not the man I swore my loyalty to, and I will cut you down!" The Raikage seemed to pull away from the red haze and visibly flinched and paled as he realized what he had done.

"I…Oh, god. I didn't…!" He staggered away from Naruto and collapsed to the ground, shaking. He'd always had a temper, but he'd never lashed out like this outside of a life-or-death fight on the battlefield. This was…

Gaara's killing intent spiked a again as he saw the bloody mess that was Naruto's torso, even as he began praying frantically that his bother-in-spirit would be alright. He wrapped several strands of sand around the collapsed Raikage, barely resisting the desire for a sand funeral.

"Is there a medic in the room?" Danzo yelled, pretending shock and worry. Kankuro and Ao both moved to Naruto's side. The Raikage's thinner guard took a few uncertain steps in the blond's direction.

"I—I have medic training," he volunteered. Gaara shot him a look, and he worried that he was going to die as a strand of sand wrapped around his throat.

"Go help, but know that I will strip the flesh from your bones should he die."

"G-got it," he stuttered. The three ninja were soon huddled over the downed blond while Darui continued, with obvious reluctance, to hold his sword at the Raikage's throat. Really, he needn't have bothered. Ā was still staring off into space in shock at what he had done. Then a low chuckle was heard that caught everyone's attention. Naruto was awake.

"No need to look like death warmed over, everyone. I'm gonna be fine. Jinchuriki, remember? I've had worse than this and lived."

"Worse than an electrified fist smashing you into a wall? I'm impressed," the Mizukage stated. She turned to Danzo with a taunting smile. "Remind me to rewrite our treaties a little, will you. I'd rather not be on Konoha's bad side if he's going to be taking the hat soon."

"Yeah. If it's not classified I'd like to hear this," Darui said. Most of the tension in the room was gone, and if Gaara were not actively stifling his murderous impulses he would be smiling at the effect Naruto had on people."

"I'm not certain it is best for him to speak right now," the former container said worriedly. Naruto laughed.

"It'll distact me from the pain, Gaara. No worries. I'd love to brag a little if the old guy doesn't mind me talking."

"Go ahead," Danzo agreed. "I haven't had time to read up on all your exploits, so I'll trust your judgment about what should be classified. We aren't going to get anything _else_ done right now." And the more Naruto built up the reputation of the village, the more prominence it would gain, making him likely to hold more power in the event of some form of inter-village alliance. An alliance he wanted to put off until the next day, if possible, so the Kotoamatsukami could again be at his disposal. Naruto pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Well, I think I can get the order on these right. The first big one was when the snake bastard ambushed my team during the chunin exams and gave Sasuke that hickey of doom." That almost got some chuckles, but everyone except the Tsuchikage restrained themselves. "He half-strangled me, hit me with some seal that screwed over my chakra, and dropped me thirty meters off a branch. A couple weeks later Ero-sennin, Jiraiya-sensei, I mean, decided that the best way to teach me to summon was to throw me off of cliff. I would have gone splat if I hadn't managed it, just like a toad under a wagon wheel."

"He threw you off a cliff?" the Mizukage said drily. "And I thought my village had stupid ways of training people."

"Yeah, well, it worked," Naruto demurred. "Then in the chunin exam finals Neji did that Hyuga jyuken thing, you know?" He didn't elaborate, not sure how secret the gentle fist was. Gaara frowned, expecting his battle to be next. "After that I fought Gaara—Lord Kazekage—but mostly we just were both exhausted. I got in, what? One solid hit with a head-butt? Well, he'd probably kick my ass even worse now, is what I'm saying. Then Ero-sennin and I went to track down our next Hokage." Naruto paused here again, uncertain of how secret everything was. That he knew the rasengan was well-known, but he decided not to air any of his mother-figure's dirty laundry. "Well, Orochimaru showed up too, with that Kabuto guy in tow. The Sannin had three-way fight, but when I hit Kabuto with my rasengan he did this thing that sorta stopped my heart, but when a sannin-class medic wants to heal you, you get healed."

"I'd rather you not have mentioned the rasengan," Danzo said disapprovingly.

"No offense, but I use almost every time I fight. Saying I know the rasengan is like saying I know how to walk on water, and anyone who doesn't know it on their own is too stupid to worry about," Naruto replied. He sat up a bit more, and his eyes locked on the Raikage. "Hey, what's up with him?" Darui answered.

"Lord Raikage has always been rough and violent, but this he's the first time he ever snapped like _this_ before. I think he's in shock. No one realized Bee's death had affected him so badly, himself included. He normally would never have done this." Naruto looked a little guilty.

"I guess I owe him an apology, then," he said, raising more eyebrows. "I know what it's like to lose a brother, and I was way out of line with the insults, and stuff. Sorry."

"No," the Raikage said quietly, getting _everyone's_ attention. "Everything you said was true, and I'm wondering if there are some double-agents in our ranks. It was I who was out of line." He turned to look at the room. "As the loss of my brother has clearly left me unfit to carry out my duties as Raikage, would you all accept Darui acting in my stead?" There were a number of looks and shared nods, and Mifune spoke.

"That would be acceptable." Then there was the clanging of armored feet running down the outside hall at full speed, and a messenger skidded to a halt outside the door.

"I apologize for the interruption, Lord Mifune, honored kages. A matter of some urgency has come up that I felt required the Lord Hokage's immediate attention."

"Has Princess Tsunade woken up?" Danzo asked, his stomach knotting. He would still have dealt a heavy blow to Kumo's status as #2, but her interfere would deprive him of the power that he could still gain from the summit.

"No, sir. It's Sasuke Uchiha. He appeared before one of our patrols carrying a body and asked to be arrested and remanded into the Hokage's custody for judgment."

"WHAT!" yelled every person in the room. Every. Single. One. Naruto bolted to his feet and took a few steps, but his strength gave out and he fell flat on his face. It took all of Danzo's decades of skill not to let his shock and _horror_ show. This was a wrench he had never even imagined. There were dozens of ways it could fall apart and he hadn't prepared for any of them. Worse, he still couldn't reuse the Koto-amatsukami so that the Uchiha would commit some crime or attack, and in the presence of the other kages he couldn't renege on his word and have the Uchiha assassinated.

"I want to see him!" Naruto yelled, struggling to stand. Gaara moved over and allowed Naruto to use him as a crutch.

"Wait! Please," the Raikage added, subdued. Now there was an adjective few would ever believe could apply to the hulking man. "I am in no position to make requests, I know, but I would like him brought here so that I may see this with my own eyes and _know_ how badly I have been tricked." There was a pause, and Mifune spoke.

"Yes, bring him here. If Lord Hokage does not object, he may be able to shed much light on this scenario." _Lord Hokage would like to strenuously object,_ Danzo thought venomously, but merely gave a stiff nod of agreement. The wait seemed to stretch on forever, and finally four samurai escorted in a man in white, with his eyes blindfolded and his hands cuffed behind his back.

"Sasuke!" Naruto shouted, overjoyed. Even with the blindfold on, Sasuke's head snapped in the blonde's direction. His face showed surprise.

"Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"Bodyguard. All the kages bring two, and I'm one of them. What are _you_ doing here?"

"Surrendering. I realized how badly I screwed my life up and came here to throw myself on Lady Tsunade's mercy and hope I don't get hurt too badly," he said drily, but there were traces of what appeared to be a genuine smile on his face.  
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And that's the cliffhanger. What the hell is going on? Well, you'll find out soon enough.


	3. Sasuke's Gambit

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto  
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"Naruto? What are you doing here?"

"Bodyguard. All the kages bring two, and I'm one of them. What are _you_ doing here?"

"Surrendering. I realized how badly I screwed my life up and came here to throw myself on Lady Tsunade's mercy and hope I don't get hurt too badly," he said drily, but there were traces of what appeared to be a genuine smile on his face. A grin, at the very least. "Is Kakashi-sensei or Sakura here too? I owe them both a few-hundred apologies, I think."

"Lady Tsunade is in a coma, and I am acting as Hokage in her stead," Danzo announced, getting the meeting back on track and covering his confusion. The Uchiha was acting nothing like he had predicted. Hopefully Itachi hadn't spilled the truth of the massacre, but he would soon find out.

"Who are you?" Sasuke asked. "The blindfold is sort of…"

"I am Danzo Shimura, acting Hokage," he stated. If the Uchiha knew the truth, he would almost certainly attack now, according to his psych profile. Instead, Sasuke simply frowned.

"…The shinobi of darkness?" he hazarded. "I heard a few rumors about you, but I'm honestly a bit surprised you're still active, no offense. This does sort of throw a wrench into the whole mercy thing, though, taking your reputation into consideration."

"Actually, Sasuke," Naruto announced, grinning like a lunatic. "Because you killed Konoha's two most wanted criminals and pretty much destroyed Otogakure, he agreed to give you a pardon if you surrendered peacefully. And you did! This is AWESOME!"

"But first," Danzo interrupted, "we would like to ask you a few questions."

"I will happily surrender any and all information on Orochimaru's bases," Sasuke said immediately.

"And what of the Akatsuki?" Gaara asked bluntly. Sasuke's head turned back to him.

"Gaara of the Desert? I'd heard you were made Kazekage. Congratulations." He turned back to Danzo, or at least in Danzo's general direction. It is worth noting that the Raikage was visibly restraining himself from blurting something out, but was succeeding in doing so.

"Most of my scouting of the Akatsuki was limited to finding my brother. I can point out a handful of possible bases on a map a give you the name of their main bookkeeper, but he'll probably have skipped town and hidden after I interrogated him."

"You are not a member of the Akatsuki?!" the Raikage barked. Sasuke jumped a little in surprise.

"No! Why would you think that? I've spent the last few days running from them! Just ask the samurai who arrested me." Mifune turned to his subordinates, one of whom stepped forward.

"I believe Uchiha is referring to the body he was carrying when he approached our patrol, which was garbed in an Akatsuki cloak. It is currently in the morgue, awaiting inspection."

"It called itself Zetsu. It and that Tobi freak have been pursuing me ever since I killed Itachi. Which is, I confess, another reason I decided to turn myself in."

"DAMN IT ALL!" the Raikage roared, his fist cratering the floor. "I'LL WRING THOSE TRAITORS' NECKS!"

"Then Itachi is dead?" Danzo asked. "We were unable to retrieve the body, so we cannot be certain. You understand how important certainty is."

"At the end of our battle he had actually gone blind from over-using his mangekyo, lost at least a liter and a half of blood through half a dozen sword wounds, had what should have been three times the lethal dose of snake venom in his veins, was on the verge of chakra exhaustion, and had received sufficient damage to his internal organs that he was coughing up blood, at which point he collapsed to the ground. If he isn't dead, I'll shave my head and become a monk."

"Oh god!" Naruto laughed, "I will treasure that image for a looooonng time."

"I agree that it is unlikely anyone could survive that, but just to be clear, you were unable to physically confirm Itachi's death? Why?"

"I collapsed approximately three seconds after Itachi did, and have to rely on the testimony of my team for what happened next."

"What team is this?"

"I put together a team of four people to help me track down Itachi. Tenpin Juugo, Hozuki Suigetsu, and a medic and sensor named Karin. I am unaware of her last name, if she uses one."

"And what happened to them?" Sasuke frowned at Danzo's question.

"I'm not sure, but I'll get to that in a minute…" he said, sounding glum. "According to my team, after I passed out and they moved to administer medical aid, two Akatsuki members named Zetsu and Tobi appeared and attempted to apprehend me, and they fled."

"Describe them."

"Zetsu is partially the corpse I had with me. He's some sort of man-plant hybrid, and there appears to be a Venus Fly-Trap growing out of his chest and around his body. Half his body is pitch black, the other is stark white, and he can separate the halves. He primarily acts in espionage and as the Akatsuki's tracker, but he lacks combat skill."

"This fits with our information on the Akatsuki," Danzo affirmed.

"Mine as well," the Tsuchikage agreed.

"Yeah, I fought that Tobi guy when we were tracking you and that Zetsu showed up," Naruto said.

"And what information do you have on 'Tobi'?" Danzo continued.

"I first encountered him when fighting Deidara, who he was partnered with at the time. He had on both a physical mask and an emotional one of obfuscating stupidity. I though I had killed him with one attack, as I saw my sword cut him and he fell to the ground, but he got back up and not even his cloak was torn. As my sharingan was active, I can only assume it was an unimaginably powerful genjutsu, or some form of space-time ninjutsu."

"He did that to me too, when I tried to hit him with a rasengan," Naruto agreed.

"His appearance?" Sasuke nodded and continued.

"He wore an Akatsuki cloak and an orange oval mask with a spiral pattern centered around his right eyehole. There was no left eyehole. Also, he claimed he was the leader of the Akatsuki."

"Yes, this fits with our own information. Furthermore, did he attempt to reveal a secret identity?" Sasuke looked amused.

"Yes, but it was rather ridiculous. He tried to use an implanted sharingan to claim that he was really Uchiha Madara." There was a gasp from many in the room at this shocking possibility Sasuke so casually dropped. "Don't do that," he said, annoyed. "It's obvious he's lying."

"It is unlikely in the extreme that he could still draw breath," the Tsuchikage said darkly. "However, if anyone could do it, he could. I speak as one who faced him in combat, many years ago, when I was apprenticed under Lord Mu. What makes you so certain?"

"First, his age," Sasuke said. "At the time of his death the Sandaime was far from his prime, and Madara was well into his adult years when he would have been born. The idea that Madara could still act as a ninja, much less one with the skill Tobi displayed, is laughable. If the real Madara had somehow circumvented both death and old age, I never would have escaped. Second, his fighting style. Madara heavily favored fire ninjutsu, and he used a custom battle fan as a weapon. Tobi fought bare-handed, except for the occasional kunai or shuriken, and he only ever utilized his space-time ninjutsu."

"That…is accurate," the Tsuchikage agreed. "Is there more?"

"Third, his appearance. One of Madara's few vices was that he was very vain. He made many pictures of himself, a number of which were still in the Uchiha clan's possession even to this day. Tobi, on the other hand, wore a mask, and had very short hair, instead of Madara's distinctively long hair. Also, Tobi had only one sharingan, suggesting an implant, and he never utilized any of the mangekyo techniques Itachi had."

"Quite the body of evidence," the Mizukage said.

"I agree," said the Tsuchikage.

"It does seem rather probable that this Tobi is merely borrowing a big name to spread fear," said Danzo. His mind was still working rapidly to figure out all the implications of this. The last Uchiha was back, and apparently had some loyalty to the village, or at least wasn't going to try and raze it to the ground. The idea of Madara's involvement had been debunked, which he had planned to use as impetus for an alliance, but things could still be salvaged.

"It appears I was completely deceived, the Raikage said darkly, "but I want to hear it from your own mouth. Do you know anything about my brother's abduction?" Sasuke turned his head to the Raikage, and even through the blindfold he appeared to be studying the large man.

"…I'm sorry, who are you?" he asked. Half the room face-faulted, the Raikage included.

"That is the Lord Raikage, although I am officially acting in his stead, as the loss of his brother rendered him unfit to fulfill his duties," Darui answered. "His brother is Kira Hachi, also known as Killer Bee, and is the Hachibi jinchuriki. He was kidnapped by Akatsuki several days ago, prompting Lord Raikage to call the Gokage Summit, and the evidence pointed to you as the abductor."

"I'm sorry, I don't know anything about this," Sasuke said, shaking his head. "I've spent the last few day in the wilderness and a few small towns, either licking my wounds or running like hell."

"WHEN. I. _FIND_. THE TRAITORS. I'LL MAKE THEM _WISH_ I KILLED THEM!"

"Would you please continue your report?" Danzo asked sharply. "You passed out and your team fled from Tobi and Zetsu."

"Yes. I don't know the details of how they escaped, and it is possible that they were simply allowed to in some twisted form of cat and mouse, but I awoke the next day in a bed in an inn. Due to Karin's skill at healing, Juugo's special abilities, and treatments my body had undergone with Orochimaru, I could be moved later that day, but I was at less than 50%. Then Tobi showed up again, somehow teleporting into the room. He told me that he was Akatsuki's leader, and that he wanted to recruit me, but I didn't believe him. I killed two akatsuki members, which I don't think would look good on my resume, after all. He then pulled the Madara crap on me, and said that he would overlook that because it was clear I had inherited his power, and he could bring me to greater potential. We forced him incorporeal by attacking and Suigetsu used the hidden mist technique for cover. We kept running, but Zetsu kept finding us, and Tobi would follow. I did manage to deduce a few limitations to their abilities during the skirmishes, though."

"Such as?"

"Zetsu can pop out of any solid object, such as rock or wood, but can't handle water. Tobi has to be either completely incorporeal or solid, and he can't attack when incorporeal. Because of this, I directed us to the ocean shore when night fell, where Zetsu couldn't follow. We went out on the water, and Suigetsu volunteered to act as a distraction. Partly because it was his element, and partly because I think he thought Tobi might bring Kisame as back-up, and give him a chance to take Sameheda. I do not know what happened to him after that."

"It sounds a little like when we were trying to retrieve you the first time," Naruto said. "The Sound Four left behind members to slow us down, and we left behind people to fight them, until it was just down to you and me."

"Remind me to give them a hundred apologies each, later," Sasuke said guiltily. "Did they all come out of the mission intact?"

"Yeah, they're all fine," Naruto said.

"Good to hear. After a few hours of running we took shelter in a port town, and Karin continued treating my injuries. We rested, restocked, and hoped Suigetsu would catch up, but we knew it was a vain hope. We safely stayed there for a day, and set off at the next dawn, as we didn't want to press our luck. Unfortunately, Tobi and Zetsu found us again. This time, I could fight back properly, and we were almost even, with neither side being able to hurt the other. Then Kisame turned up and blind-sided me with Sameheda, ripping open my chest. Would someone open my shirt?" A samurai stepped up and bared Sasuke's chest, displaying the scar tissue. In actuality, the wound had come from Bee's lariat, but no one knew that. Not even Sasuke, it appeared.

"How could you heal so quickly?" the Mizukage asked. "I know what Sameheda does to people, and you should still be bleeding, bandaged, and bed-ridden, even with whatever Orochimaru did to you."

"I mentioned before that both Juugo and Karin had healing skills, didn't I? Karin can heal by allowing other people to drain her chakra, usually through bites. Juugo is a bit different. He is the person Orochimaru modeled the cursed seal off of, and he can do a number of interesting things with his body. In this case, he literally fused part of his flesh to my body to heal me. But there was another problem."

"Sameheda again, correct? It eats chakra, so not only would you have been drained, but Kisame could track your chakra signature very easily," the Mizukage theorized.

"Yes. Suigetsu had waxed poetic on the abilities of the swords, so we knew what could happen. Karin revealed a previously unknown ability—she could mimic chakra signatures by draining someone's chakra the way other people drained her to heal."

"She mimicked you while your signature was low and resembling your teammate's from the infusion of cells, and went off in a different direction as a decoy," the Tsuchikage summarized.

"Yes. I don't know what happened to her either, but for some reason we didn't see Kisame again either. I doubt that she took him out, but perhaps her signature reverted she he lost the trail and is still looking. I can only hope."

"And what of your final teammate?" Danzo inquired.

"By this point I had decided that enough was enough, and decided to return to Konoha. Juugo expressed a wish to accompany me, as he sought medical treatment for the condition that gave him his powers. It also caused him to periodically fly into murderous rages, and he followed me because my sharingan could suppress them. We were headed to Konoha and on the borders of the Land of Iron, when we heard people preparing for the Gokage Summit."

"When was this?" Mifune asked.

"Yesterday," Sasuke replied. "I was going to try and turn myself in at the summit, but Tobi and Zetsu found us again. Zetsu managed to get in a lucky hit and hurt Juugo's leg so he couldn't flee immediately. It would take time for him to heal, though only a few minutes. I engaged Tobi, and when he went solid to hit me Juugo shot a poisoned spike at him. Tobi retreated, and told Zetsu to bring in both our bodies if he could."

"Even though Zetsu had no luck prior to now?" the Tsuchikage asked, sensing a discrepancy. Sasuke shrugged in reply.

"He may have just been being dramatic. I think, though, that they had at least been trying to capture me alive, which is why we survived as well as we did. Juugo yelled to split up, and Zetsu did his split bodies thing—black went after Juugo and white went after me. I couldn't find Juugo when I went back and looked, so I can only assume that Zetsu caught him."

"How did you kill the white half?" Danzo asked.

"With a little help from Naruto," Sasuke said, grinning. "I made a shadow clone that Zetsu thought was me and burned his head off with a fireball when he attacked it."

"You copied my jutsu," Naruto complained. "I'm stealing the chidori in exchange, you know."

"You can have the fireball jutsu," Sasuke scoffed, and then grinned to show he was joking. "I'l trade you chidori for rasengan."

"We'll talk later," Naruto said, grinning back.

"If there are no other questions, I'd like to move to adjourn for today and continue tomorrow," Danzo suggested. _That way the Koto-amatsukami will be usable again._

"_**I have a question,**_" rasped an unfamiliar voice, and every ninja in the room snapped to attention. "_**How on Earth did you believe that load of poppycock?**_" asked Zetsu's black half, emerging from the ceiling like a bat. Then Tobi teleported in next to him.

"I agree. I have to admit, Sasuke, that this betrayal was most—"

"YOU!" the Raikage screamed, accelerating into an electric blur as he charged the Akatsuki leader. His fist hit Tobi square in the face, and passed right through, along with the rest of the Raikage's body, which slammed into the far wall. There was a moment of silence as he picked himself up and glared at the cloaked duo. "Where. Is. My. Brother?"

"I'd like to know that too, actually," Tobi confessed. "The one Sasuke abducted—"

"I did no such thing!" Sasuke snapped. "I want to know what you did with my teammates! Someone get me out of these things," he added, struggling with the handcuffs and shaking his head in an attempt to get off the blindfold. One of the samurai stepped forward and freed his hands, and Sasuke tore off the blindfold and glared at Tobi, his three-tomoe sharingan spinning.

"Come now Sasuke, don't change sides on me now," Tobi said. "You joined me after I revealed that Itachi had committed the massacre on orders from the Konoha government and abducted the Hachibi on my orders, except that you only got a fake substitution." There was a beat, and the world hung in the balance.

"That. Is. Literally. The stupidest thing I have ever heard! And I was on a team with Naruto." Surprisingly the blond didn't comment—he stayed in an odd stance with his eyes closed, as though he were sensing something the way Karin did. "Why would I join up with Akatsuki after I killed Itachi and Deidara? Why would I trust your word based on no evidence? Genjutsu?"

"No, I know this because I was there," Tobi said. "Itachi, skilled as he was, couldn't pull off the massacre on his own, so he got my help, and joined Akatsuki in exchange." No one except Tobi was watching Sasuke very closely. Out of the corner of their eye perhaps, but the majority of their attention was focused on Tobi and Zetsu, and Danzo was at a bad angle to see what happened. So no one saw Sasuke's eyes momentarily evolve into mangekyo before he switched them back, they only saw the flinch and half-step back Sasuke took at this revelation, as he began shaking with hatred.

"I always wondered about that," Sasuke said. "But if Itachi really acted on orders, then why did he kill everyone? Even the infants, and the civilians in the family, and our old and infirm? But then I thought, maybe he had help from someone less discriminate. Thank you for confirming that." And a chidori spear exploded from his hand at Tobi, who didn't bother dodging, letting it phase through. Naruto's eyes shot open, revealing him to be in sage mode.

"Everyone, that Zetsu guy's done some jutsu that spread his chakra through the room!" He yelled, and black Zetsu grinned. The spores he had spread began to suck in chakra and grow with horrific speed, and all the ninja had to react. The Tsuchikage petrified his with a hand sign, while his guard Akatsuchi spit up a clay golem that ate both his and Kurotsuchi's spore clones. Gaara's sand ripped off his and his siblings' with a thought. Naruto petrified his with sage chakra while Sasuke spit a fireball _at his own feet_ and momentarily wreathed himself in flames.

"Good idea," the Mizukage said, seeing Sasuke's actions, and coated her self with lava before using a fireball to free Ao and Chojuro. Danzo was having some trouble with his clone, but his other guard infected both his and his hokage's clones with the Aburame clan's secret microscopic insects. The Raikage simply ripped off his clone and snapped its neck, and moved to do the same with his subordinates. But Tobi had not been sitting idle, and moved to Sasuke to activate his warp prison.

"Not happening!" Naruto snarled, and attacked with his sage-taijutsu. Tobi went incorporeal again and as he was passing through Naruto formed a handsign and summoned half-a-dozen clones. _Can't use rasenshuriken without hitting someone, but rasengan should be fine._

"This is annoying," Tobi said drily, and jumped into a clear zone. "I don't suppose you'd consider handing over the Hachibi and Kyubi, then? Well, Kisame will get his target soon enough and I'll be back for you, Naruto. Since we can't settle this peacefully," added Tobi, raising his voice, "then I, Madara Uchiha, hereby declare the beginning of the Fourth Great Ninja War," and he and Zetsu vanished.

"The Fourth Great Ninja War," the Tsuchikage scoffed. "Him and what army?"

"Never the less, Akatsuki may be a threat, and we do not know the full extent of this Tobi's resources. He may be able to drag several smaller villages to his side," Danzo suggested. "Given the events of everything today, may I suggest that we have a recess, and begin again tomorrow?"

"It seems wise," Mifune agreed. "This way everyone can send messages back regarding this 'Fourth War'. Let us regroup and continue tomorrow." There was a round of agreements.

"Um, excuse me? Everyone?" Naruto said, catching the room's attention. "Was it just me, or did he say that this Killer Bee guy was still free, and that _Kisame Hoshigaki_ was pursuing him?"

"Darui should still act as Raikage in my stead," Ā said, standing up. "As there is no reason for me to stay, I intend to take a team and try to find my brother, if anyone would like to come along and aid me." Looks were exchanged.

"If your brother is still alive, then I owe you an apology for what I said earlier. As a jinchuriki myself, I'd like to come along and help if Danzo will let me."

"Me too," added Sasuke. "I'd like to come and meet the man I'm accused of kidnapping." _And do damage control before anyone can find out the truth,_ he added to himself. _All I need is a few minutes alone with a shadow clone and I can re-genjutsu myself to continue the charade. Or maybe I can tell Naruto the truth and convince the dobe to side with me. It shouldn't be too hard to sway the idiot if I word things right._

"I am also a sensor," said Ao, "and I would be glad to be of aid, should Lady Mizukage grant permission," he added, looking to his leader. She nodded.

"You have it."

"I am uncertain in the wisdom of letting our jinchuriki out of sight to a place where we know Akatsuki would be active," Danzo said slowly. "But…you will probably be as safe with the Raikage as you would here, and you and Sasuke each have more experience fighting the Akatsuki than any three of us combined, I would guess. You have my permission." _And with you out of my hair I can work on how to best spin this for success, and guess at what is going on here._ There was, once again, the sound of running footsteps in the hall, and a samurai appeared at the door and snapped to attention.

"We have just received a message from Konoha," he said. "The Godaime Hokage has awoken from her coma and expects to be here by noon tomorrow." The room was silent for a moment.

"When it rains…" Mifune said, shaking his head.

"Ame ninja are likely to using it as cover to attack," Danzo finished with a straight face, as his plots came crashing down in flames.  
+++++++++++++++++++++

For those who still don't understand, Sasuke used a shadow clone to sharing an genjutsu himself into believing the story he told, and set it to break when he subconsciously activated mangekyo. He planned to clear his named, get close to Danzo, and get revenge.

And that's as far as I've written. If I get omake inspiration I may post another chapter of snippets, but I've really written myself too far into a corner to decide what comes next. If someone wants to use the idea for their own, just PM me and I'll give you the okay. Thanks for reading! Also, I'd love it if you checked out my other story A New Order. It's a Sailor Moon story but it doesn't suck. Honestly. Thank you all for reading, and the few people who've reviewed, Thank You Very Much. Bobo, meh, and the 3 Guests, it means a lot to me. Sayonara!


	4. Death Certificate

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Sorry to disappoint but this is not a chapter. This is a declaration of the end. I've kept the story as in-progress status for the past week because I thought I had ideas to follow up on, but I failed.

I started writing this just to get the plot bunny out of my head, and it worked, but I can't finish it because I've written myself into a corner.

Possibilities:

Sasuke talks to Naruto about the Massacre to try to get the dobe on his side.

Kira accuses Sasuke of being the Akatsuki member.

Danzo has a nervous breakdown/heart-attack.

Other.

I really don't know what to do and I was never that interested in the first place. As I said in the beginning this was never going to be more than 3-4 chapters. Anyone who wants to use the idea for themselves, leave a review saying so or PM me.

Thanks for reading! Also, try checking out my other story. It's better than most people would guess.


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